---Electronic music blog---

Church Boy Lou – Weep (Dirt Tech Reck DTR06 – 2015)

As a designer and photographer, Robert O’Bryant aka Waajeed was affiliated with Detroit’s hip hop group Slum Village and then gradually became a producer himself. Waajeed’s first own label was The Bling 47 Group, followed by the launch of Dirt Tech Reck (initially Records) in 2013. Closely connected to the Detroit techno headquarters Submerge, the DTR imprint can look back to a number of releases between street credible beats and soulful house, to present now “Weep” by Church Boy Lou.

Waajeed’s new alias seems like an invitation to Sunday morning mess in the neighbourhood. The spiritual opener “Show Me” is a merry celebration of choir voices with organ and piano passages and while the EP is primarily about gospel house, it shows clear traces of soulful Detroit techno.

“Alright!” is a cheerful tune that contains a replay of “Going Back To My Roots” by Detroit soul artist Lamont Dozier. It also features the voice of a former Innerzone Orchestra member Paul Randolph, a bassist who released in the 1990s as L’Homme Van Renn for 430 West and has been part of countless projects since then. Warm chords of the title track “Weep” make to believe that freedom arrives after the misery and the last one is a stripped down bass and vocal version of “Alright!”, credited as Paulapella mix.

In addition to Waajeed, Timeline member Jon Dixon and Tim K on keyboards along with Ray 7 on percussion contribute in this release of ample deep house.